Cleaning up your roaming profile

If you are moving between devices and finding that it takes a long time to log in to a new device, this is often a sign that your roaming profile is too large and needs to be cleaned up.

What is a profile

Your profile is a collection of files and settings that follows you around from computer to computer on our network. This is why things like your desktop shortcuts and your Google Chrome settings are consistent between computers. Most public services staff and staff that are expected to move between devices are given a roaming profile. If you are unsure if you have a roaming profile or not, please submit a Track-It and IT can determine this for you.

How do I clean up my profile?

When you download and save lots of files to the locations that are part of your profile, it increases the size of your profile and slows down your login time because each computer that you log in to has to download all of your profile information from our servers. The folders that frequently cause problems for staff members are the Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures, and Videos folders. Stored Google Chrome data can also be a problem. To decrease the size of your profile, delete things that you don’t need from these folders and move things that you do need to your Z drive.

Cleaning up Google Chrome data as part of your profile

To clean up Google Chrome data, click on the three vertical dots in the top right, choose settings, and click on Clear browsing data under the Privacy and Security heading. Make sure to choose the All time time range. If you are worried about deleting Chrome data that you might want, you can just select the Cached images and files option.

Automatic Mapping

Some staff members have their Documents folder automatically mapped to their Z drive. If you are unsure if this is the case for you or would like help setting this up, please open a Track-It. Your Z drive is also accessible from any computer on our network that you log in to, but your Z drive size does not affect the time it takes you to log in, because it lives on one of our servers and doesn’t have to be copied down to each new computer that you log in to.

Everyone should have a Z drive. You should see it in the file explorer app when you open it. Your Z drive will be in the bottom left, under the This PC heading, and will have the same name as your username. If you do not see it or need help accessing it, please open a Track-It.

iTunes

A special note about iTunes. When you rip music from a CD into iTunes, iTunes puts it in the iTunes folder by default. The iTunes folder is underneath your music folder. This becomes part of your profile, and music file sizes add up quickly. To avoid this, move the music files to your Z drive after ripping or change the setting in iTunes to place the files on your Z drive instead of the local Music folder. If you need assistance, please open a Track-It.